Sorry for the (extremely) late update. My computer broke down and I had to get a new one. Posts will be more frequent from now on.

"I don't know what Eggman's planning, but it seems like it upsets both our worlds. Almost like it wasn't meant to happen. Whatever he's planning, it's out of his norm" I said. "Something's up, big time. I think I felt Tikal's presence, like she was trying to help." The looks I got evidently weren't happy ones. Knuckles looked like he was in deep thought, and Tails had a slight twinge of fear in his eyes, he said, "what could Eggman possibly be planning that it would affect two entire universes so severely?"

"He did something that he would never have done before, and nothing was ready for it. He did something that, by the rules that govern everything, he was not allowed to do. We had better be careful, both universes have been set off balance. Anything can happen now." Tails and I stared at Knuckles like he was from outer space.

He was right. I usually expected this from Tails, but this news meant many things. Eggman could finally have decided to bring his IQ to the battlefield, or maybe the evil in him had an upgrade, he was ready to end our struggle, the possibilities were endless. He is a genius, after all; and he was imbued with some of the evil in the Chaos Emeralds. Every time we had fought I had won because of the laziness in his planning. Was this his full potential? There was only one way to find out. Astro walked in unexpectedly, startling me out of my short trance. "Sonic, what happened while you were dreaming that woke you up so abruptly." I thought a bit more about this while Tails and Knuckles filled him in on the latest news.

EGGMAN'S BASE:

The mad doctor worked tirelessly night and day for three days straight until he made a breakthrough, he now knew that Robotropolis was still in the same solar system as Earth. It would only make it all the more easier to send the transmission signals and ready the missiles for complete destruction. Eggman already copied Zoran's battle data into a new squadron of Eggman robot's he called the G100 - series. He was later planning to upload Astro's battle data into another, more capable set of robots called the G200 - series, but those would only be for what he liked to call Operation: Hedgehog Season.

Even with the help of Knuckles, Tails, Astro Boy, Zoran, and Dr. Tenma; Sonic wouldn't stand a chance. He had recruited the assistance of Skunk and Hamegg. Skunk had already finished building the machine that Eggman had assigned to him, and Hamegg was already getting in position for his assignment. The impersonation of an Anti - AI politician. He had a 'real' diploma, certificate, background history, and license.

A little bit of hate and resentment for a specific AI robot that put him in jail also helped. It was almost too easy to clear his records in the law enforcement files and fudge a bit of court trials, to make him look like a very real law - abiding citizen that just happened to have a large sum of money. Slowly but surely, all the steps of his ultimate plan were falling into place. Soon, there would be nothing that could stop him. Even Sonic would be crushed to oblivion by his genius.

It was time to execute phase two of his ingenious plot. He walked up to a capsule in the back corner of his study, and opened up a holographic control panel. He selected voice recognition and stated "Dr. Ivo Robotnik". Suddenly, the capsule released a cloud of acrid gas. He began to type, but suddenly became aware of a presence in the room. Eggman simply stated "why hasn't your plan taken effect yet."

Sharaku said "patience, Robotnik. It will take effect soon. My perfection cannot be rushed." Eggman growled, "It had better be perfection, or you'll be oblivion." Sharaku despised working for this man, but it would earn him quite the hefty kingdom. This Eggman had promised him the entire Earth in exchange for the hedgehog's life. It seemed almost too easy. One lone blue gerbil and his little pack of freaks, how hard could it be?

Very hard, as Sharaku had already found out. Very hard, but not impossible or even unlikely. All he had to do was focus on the hedgehog's weak points. A mighty hero, he had only one clear weakness. One weakness, however, usually lead to an easy but destructive downfall. He had little strength, destructive power added to his blow only because of his immense speed. Diminish the speed, and he would be only slightly more than a regular everyday rodent.

His demise was assured. The red one was the exact opposite. His sluggish movement and gullible character would not pose a very large problem. The fox was troublesome. Although his intellect was displayed on many an occasion, Sharaku could sense a hidden power in him. It was not much, but it made the fox particularly unpredictable. Astro was another factor altogether.

His horsepower had outmatched his intellect and psychic powers many times before, meaning he would somehow have to separate the rodents from the robot. There was also the fact that Astro knew Wato. On many occasions, the only thing that stood between him and victory was Wato - San. On a mission of this proportion, it would be best if his connection to Dr. Robotnik's plans went unnoticed until only Astro was left. By then, Eggman could easily deal with the little pest.

He walked out without a word, his silence more threatening than the most potent poison. Sharaku allowed himself a small smirk when he saw the doctor shiver a bit from the corner of his eye. That rare occurrence was most definitely not from the controlled temperature of the room. It was warm, to keep the pods growing these strange robots from releasing them too early. The robots being made disgusted even him. They were made completely from organic materials.

Dr. Tenma's House: Sonic's POV

"Alright Sonic, we're ready!" Tails called out. We were heading back out to the cave where Caliburn was found to investigate the source of the strange power he'd felt. Tails had just finished readying the X-tornado for takeoff. I ran towards the plane and jumped high into the air, carefully landing onto the right wing. Astro used his rockets to fly into the passenger seat, and Tails used his namesakes to gently lower himself into the pilot seat.

Knuckles copied me so he landed on the left wing. Tails set the ignition, and waited for the propellers to do their thing. When we were ready, Tails yelled out "Alright, let's get back to that cave!" We got there pretty fast. The cave was on a mountain just outside Metro City. Small bushes lined the opening, and the tall trees there provided something like a green sky for miles. We had to end up landing on top of the mountain to get to the cave.

I jumped off the X-tornado and waited for everyone else. Knuckles clumsily tumbled out, landing on his head. Tails floated off, while Astro just jumped out. "Alright, let's go!" I ran full speed, glad to be free for at least a little while. Just as I was about to get to the opening, though, I felt a sharp pain in my neck that quickly spread out throughout the rest of my body. I couldn't even scream, because before I knew it, I was completely paralyzed. Quickly after, I couldn't feel the volts of electricity undoubtedly coursing through my body.

Good thing, too. Because I saw someone right at the opening. Then I remembered what the Tawashi guy had said before "If you put even so much as a toe out of a two-mile radius of Astro or the city, there's enough voltage in that collar to stop even Astro in his tracks." Shoot. I looked around the best I could, using just my eyes since I couldn't move my head.

Luckily, I landed facing the opening. He was drawing something in the sand. The person wore a cloak with a hood. It could have been Merlina, with the staff in its right hand. Except the top was in the shape of an arrow. Suddenly, a familiar pain flowed back into my senses. I bit my lip to keep myself from howling in pain. Did that bucket of bolts really think this was the best time to keep me within range?

I silently watched her wave her hand over the symbol, only to freeze as soon as I heard the faintest sound of footsteps. 'That gal's got some pretty good ears' I thought to myself. She ran away into the woods, making me wish I hadn't left Caliburn in the plane. Then I thought that he should have kept up with me. 'Geeze, that sword's getting lazy'

A gust of wind ruined the intricate symbol, reducing it to the rest of the ground right before Astro flew right to the entrance of the cave at almost transonic speed. I finally took the time to realize I was no longer being fried and stood up. I had some trouble getting up, I still felt mostly numb, but after a while; I actually felt better than before I was electrocuted. Astro heard the rustling of the plants as I got up, and spotted me.

"Oh, there you are! What happened?" he asked.

I just shook my head, "why don't you ask your dear inspector 'what happened' when I was temporarily paralyzed? Astro had a suspiciously guilty look on his face when he apologized "you have to understand that it was necessary at the time." For some reason, I was suddenly filled with anger. I hated him, and his world. Everything was tinged in red. I wanted to hurt him in some way, didn't really matter how.

"Yeah, I understand. But why keep it on me still? I'm not a convict!" Astro's eyes widened and he trembled slightly. "If you ask me, it's a good thing I'm stuck with you! Motivation for keeping an eye on your little cowardly tail, you rusted bucket of bolts!" It was a lousy insult, but I was too enraged for words. Then the anger just collapsed, and I fell to my knees. There was no more hatred, I just had a deep regret for everything I said. I got up to my feet, only to notice Astro was still looking at me untrustingly.

"Sorry, I sorta lost control there. Are you okay?" He nodded, and wiped away tears that I barely noticed had started to form in his eyes. That felt like a punch to the gut. What had just happened, that wasn't me. It definitely wasn't me. I tried to show it to Astro, "No, really. I don't usually behave like that. I don't know what happened."

He surprised me when he said "I know".

"What?" It was almost a whisper.

"Some kind of evil overtook you, I know where it came from."

"Where?" I asked, although I thought I already knew where.

We heard everyone else coming. Astro looked in the direction of the footsteps. They would be here in seconds. He took one more worried glance at me before he said something that planted a seed of fear in my head. Before they reached us, Astro whispered, "Inside."